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Are you on an Up or Down Spiral? by David Wood,
Life Coaching Resource

Coach Jana L Beutler, M.Ed.

If
life is anything short of amazing right now, find some
Positive Actions to give an Up Spiral a chance of finding
you! The stock market is said to jump up and down at
random. I do not believe this is true of life. Instead, we instead
follow spirals - either 'Up Spirals' or 'Down Spirals.'

The
Down Spiral

There are events, then actions, then
events, then actions, and on and on. Negative events
can cause negative feelings, followed by NEGATIVE ACTIONS, leading
to negative events followed by negative feelings, then NEGATIVE
ACTIONS, leading to ... the 'Down Spiral'.

An example: Greg was neglecting his body. He wasn't
eating healthy food, exercising, or getting quite enough sleep.
Not feeling the best about himself, he also didn't feel too
motivated to keep his apartment clean. Now being a little more
sensitive to people's comments, he found himself snapping at
people more than usual, drinking/smoking more, and getting
less sleep and exercise.

He started getting into work later,
because it was harder to get up, and he felt in a way that he now
had reasons or justification for getting into work late. Greg then
got the flu, had a fight with two friends, and got in trouble at
work for being late. Of course, Greg then felt worse then ever ...
"no body cares", "it's not fair", "life is so hard".

He stopped calling his friends and stayed
home feeling sorry for himself. His car broke down because he'd
ignored that knock in the engine for two weeks, and from out of
nowhere his girlfriend Susie broke up with him!

The
Point

Negative events can cause negative
feelings, followed by NEGATIVE ACTIONS, leading to negative
events. Enter the 'Down Spiral'.

But enough of that spiral! If
there's a 'Down Spiral', surely there must be an 'Up Spiral'! So
can you remember a time in your life when things were almost
too good? When everything seemed to work out and life just kept
getting better?

The
Up Spiral

Mary made a personal decision one day to
be early for every appointment. She found herself actually sitting
for five minutes with time to think, chat to the receptionist or
simply breathe! For some reason, Mary felt less stressed with life, and
took time to speak with more people. On one occasion, this led to
her being offered a better job, closer to home, and with more
pay.

Feeling good about life, Mary started
actually going to that gym she had paid for six months ago, put
down a deposit on that acting course she'd been thinking about for
years, and strangely found herself naturally listening to others
more than talking.

The next week, positively beaming from the
way life was going, she was asked out on four dates by four
different men. In this case, positive actions led to positive
events, which led to feeling good and more positive actions, which
led to the 'Up Spiral'.

TOP
TEN POSITIVE ACTIONS TO BEGIN/MAINTAIN YOUR UP SPIRAL

1. Say hello to EVERYBODY. First.

2. Thank people three times more than you
normally would. (For EVERYTHING they do that you like - look
hard)

3. Give yourself at least one treat every
week (e.g. massage, 30 minutes at the lake or beach).

4. Get the sleep and rest you need.

5. Listen. Find out how your friends are
REALLY doing.

6. Save 10-20% of your income, and have
one year's living expenses available as cash.

7. Handle the background items that are
bugging you (filing, untidiness, lawn etc.)